When I was a freshman in college, I decided that I would read the Bible from cover to cover slowly and methodically. Lots of times I would take any questions that popped up in those readings to Chris Benjamin and we would discuss the intricacies of the text. The more I read, the more the entirety of the Bible looked like a story of divine and mortal characters interacting. There's lots of stories within this large collection of books, but it's all centered on the love story of God with His creation.
It starts with a garden. A garden where everything is ok, where life abounds. God hangs out with the humans in this garden. Life is good. In reality, it doesn't get much better than this, who doesn't want to hang out with God all day? I also think we neglect this first part of this story in our churches today, we don't talk a lot about how things were in the garden rather we talk more about what comes next.
The Fall, that fateful tale of a serpent tempting and mankind making the wrong choice of going against what God said, and that ill attempt to try to be like God. If this is a movie, this is the sad part where things seem like they're going to go south. A lot of our theology and conversations take place Genesis 3 and onward which is the next part of this narrative. We're more concerned with the Fall of man rather than how things were originally created.
Then we see different kings and prophets come on to the scene of the story and the different things they do, some good and some bad, and we see God's workings with them and through them. Yet it's still not right, it's not redemptive enough. Then the divine invades the earth it created, and Jesus comes onto the scene. This is the part in the movie, where hope arrives, this is when a hero shows up with resolve. Jesus lived and worked and showed what the life God wants us to looks like. He served, He healed, and He loved the people He created. Then He dies, and as the Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world. But this part of the story does not end here...
He rose up. Jesus has redeemed death into life. He charges the church with His work as He leaves the Earth and ascends to Heaven and we are a partners in restoring the world back to the way it should be.
I outline this story of creation, despair, redemptive hope, and restoration to ask a question. As a person who has partnered with Jesus is restoring this world back to the way it should be, what's your story in all this? We all have our little mini-stories that we're writing with our lives, how does that story emit the power of Christ that shines in us? These are thoughts about the big story that we're a part of. In part 3, I'll try to answer these questions for myself.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
I Don't Want to be a Bad Storyteller! Part 1: A Prequel to The Story
As I mentioned in my last post I've done some traveling as of late, starting with Tegucigalpa, Honduras. There I got to work alongside my beautiful and fantastic girlfriend as she seeks to alleviate and change the poverty situation in so many lives in Honduras. Her efforts include tutoring and mentoring students as director of the Shine program that seeks to bring kids out of poverty through education. She also works with a group of soulful people in the Breaking Chains Homeless Ministry. This ministry provides a shelter for over 40 people that includes families and teenagers. While there, I got to be a part of taking this whole group of people three hours out of town to a beautiful beach (Many of whom had never been to the beach or out of Tegucigalpa), and celebrate Christmas with presents and wonderful food.
I journeyed back to the States, and immediately turned around and went to Daytona Beach, Florida (Which has an inordinate amount of tattooing among its people, especially neck tattoos) to attend the National Conference on Youth Ministries. I heard many speakers, but the one that stuck out the most was Donald Miller. Many of you probably recognize his name from his bestseller "Blue Like Jazz." In his talk, he spoke a lot about the movie that was made over that book and his role in it, along with the art of storytelling.
Storytelling is something that I have been working on getting better at for a few years now. It is an artform that I find riveting. Miller pointed out the elements of a story; which are setting, conflict, climax, and resolution. Every story has a setting, a long part at the beginning which identifies the characters, what they want in the story, the atmosphere of the story, and the beginning details of the plot. Eventually, every story encounters a conflict, there's no escaping it. The real issue when the conflict arises is what the characters in the story do with the conflict.
Some characters shy away when conflict comes, but the truly amazing characters push through the conflict to reach what they want. Can you imagine William Wallace in "Braveheart" just going home after the English kill his wife? Of course not! That would be the worst movie ever. What happens with the conflict decides whether the story is climatic or anti-climatic. And what part the characters of the story play in that climax. After the climax, the highest point of the story, comes the resolution. Now the resolution is the part of the story where everything comes together. This is where the couple rides off into the sunset, where the boxer wins the match, the good guys win, and everyone goes home happy.
So, here we sit as people who are writing their story, everyday, one day at a time. The questions I've been asking are, What's my story? What's the story of Impact? What story can my sweet girlfriend write in Honduras? And how does the story of the Gospel fit into all of this? I don't know the answers to all of these, so I guess I'll keep exploring.
I journeyed back to the States, and immediately turned around and went to Daytona Beach, Florida (Which has an inordinate amount of tattooing among its people, especially neck tattoos) to attend the National Conference on Youth Ministries. I heard many speakers, but the one that stuck out the most was Donald Miller. Many of you probably recognize his name from his bestseller "Blue Like Jazz." In his talk, he spoke a lot about the movie that was made over that book and his role in it, along with the art of storytelling.
Storytelling is something that I have been working on getting better at for a few years now. It is an artform that I find riveting. Miller pointed out the elements of a story; which are setting, conflict, climax, and resolution. Every story has a setting, a long part at the beginning which identifies the characters, what they want in the story, the atmosphere of the story, and the beginning details of the plot. Eventually, every story encounters a conflict, there's no escaping it. The real issue when the conflict arises is what the characters in the story do with the conflict.
Some characters shy away when conflict comes, but the truly amazing characters push through the conflict to reach what they want. Can you imagine William Wallace in "Braveheart" just going home after the English kill his wife? Of course not! That would be the worst movie ever. What happens with the conflict decides whether the story is climatic or anti-climatic. And what part the characters of the story play in that climax. After the climax, the highest point of the story, comes the resolution. Now the resolution is the part of the story where everything comes together. This is where the couple rides off into the sunset, where the boxer wins the match, the good guys win, and everyone goes home happy.
So, here we sit as people who are writing their story, everyday, one day at a time. The questions I've been asking are, What's my story? What's the story of Impact? What story can my sweet girlfriend write in Honduras? And how does the story of the Gospel fit into all of this? I don't know the answers to all of these, so I guess I'll keep exploring.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Christmas Break Is Over
As many of you probably have noticed, I've been off on some adventures in Honduras and Florida. I'll be posting some reflections on my travels in the coming week. My time in Honduras was amazing and you can see some of my adventures at Breaking Chains Homeless Ministry's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/BCHonduras.
In Florida, I was blessed to listen to many great speakers and teachers at the National Conference on Youth Ministries. I got to hear the likes of Chris Seidman, David Fraze, and Donald Miller. They enlightened me to new ways of thinking about things in youth ministry and church as a whole. Donald Miller especially blew my mind and I will go into his thoughts more in depth soon. So for now I leave you the trailer to his particularly compelling book, "Blue Like Jazz," I'm not sure when the movie actually comes out. I got to be a beta-tester with all the other ministers, I enjoyed it and found it inspiring.
Grace & Peace to you all!
In Florida, I was blessed to listen to many great speakers and teachers at the National Conference on Youth Ministries. I got to hear the likes of Chris Seidman, David Fraze, and Donald Miller. They enlightened me to new ways of thinking about things in youth ministry and church as a whole. Donald Miller especially blew my mind and I will go into his thoughts more in depth soon. So for now I leave you the trailer to his particularly compelling book, "Blue Like Jazz," I'm not sure when the movie actually comes out. I got to be a beta-tester with all the other ministers, I enjoyed it and found it inspiring.
Grace & Peace to you all!
Monday, December 12, 2011
The War on Christmas and St. Nicolas of Myra
I'm trying to make sure I get a post up here every about every two weeks. I remember the words of the wise Dr. Siburt at the beginning of my class this semester, he said "Ministers don't last very long when they spend more time on their blogs than with their people." Now I have two to keep up with, one that only ACU students can see, sorry non-ACU students! Nevertheless here's another Christmas observation.
Every year around this time of year, I begin to hear all of the cries about what has been dubbed as the "War on Christmas." I've always been puzzled by this idea. I've heard the stories about nativity scenes not being allowed on government property, and not being able to say Merry Christmas. I don't particularly care for nativity scenes, but if they should be anywhere it's in front of churches. I'm all for separation of church and state, and looking at history confirms that for me. To my knowledge it's not illegal to say Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays is fine with me. In some ways, it is more Christian in its inclusion and respect of others and their beliefs. Also, when the first Pilgrims came here they banned Christmas, it wasn't till later we got it back (Pesky Puritans).
I do want to point out something that is unsettling to I've noticed this holiday season. And it's in this commercial.
When we were younger Santa was the one who gave good things to the kids who were good, and bad things to the kids who were bad. He was always watching so you had that pressure on you the whole year (who am I kidding, no kid really thought about that until late November). Plus he stuck down your chimney at night, which was a little weird. But in essence, Santa is comparison to God. And the statement I see in this commercial is "We don't need you Santa, we're advanced consumers who can take care of and bless ourselves, how bout the dog?"
This unsettles me. I see it all the time in this society that is becoming increasingly consumeristic. We don't need help, we can solve our problems with money or our own ingenuity. In essence, there is becoming less room for God. I thought about this when I was teaching my 4th grade boys about the rich young ruler and how it is hard for the rich to get into heaven. They don't need God when they can take care of things themselves.
I'll end with the story of the original St. Nicolas. He was born in Turkey and committed his life to the church at an early age and was the Bishop of Myra. He sold all of his family's wealth and gave it to the poor. When good Old St. Nicholas heard about three girls that were to be sold into slavery by their father he went and threw three bags of gold from the church's treasury into their house. Supposedly, they land in stockings by the fire, which is how we get stockings by the fire on Christmas. And that's the St. Nick I want. That's the St. Nick that everyone should want. And that's the God I want. The God who pays people's ransoms from slavery no matter the cost. The God who empties out His storehouses for His people. And is so committed to paying their ransom that He sends His Son and is willing to put Him on a cross to buy our freedom. Because we need His gifts, most of all the gift of Jesus. That's what we remember on Christmas.
Every year around this time of year, I begin to hear all of the cries about what has been dubbed as the "War on Christmas." I've always been puzzled by this idea. I've heard the stories about nativity scenes not being allowed on government property, and not being able to say Merry Christmas. I don't particularly care for nativity scenes, but if they should be anywhere it's in front of churches. I'm all for separation of church and state, and looking at history confirms that for me. To my knowledge it's not illegal to say Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays is fine with me. In some ways, it is more Christian in its inclusion and respect of others and their beliefs. Also, when the first Pilgrims came here they banned Christmas, it wasn't till later we got it back (Pesky Puritans).
I do want to point out something that is unsettling to I've noticed this holiday season. And it's in this commercial.
When we were younger Santa was the one who gave good things to the kids who were good, and bad things to the kids who were bad. He was always watching so you had that pressure on you the whole year (who am I kidding, no kid really thought about that until late November). Plus he stuck down your chimney at night, which was a little weird. But in essence, Santa is comparison to God. And the statement I see in this commercial is "We don't need you Santa, we're advanced consumers who can take care of and bless ourselves, how bout the dog?"
This unsettles me. I see it all the time in this society that is becoming increasingly consumeristic. We don't need help, we can solve our problems with money or our own ingenuity. In essence, there is becoming less room for God. I thought about this when I was teaching my 4th grade boys about the rich young ruler and how it is hard for the rich to get into heaven. They don't need God when they can take care of things themselves.
I'll end with the story of the original St. Nicolas. He was born in Turkey and committed his life to the church at an early age and was the Bishop of Myra. He sold all of his family's wealth and gave it to the poor. When good Old St. Nicholas heard about three girls that were to be sold into slavery by their father he went and threw three bags of gold from the church's treasury into their house. Supposedly, they land in stockings by the fire, which is how we get stockings by the fire on Christmas. And that's the St. Nick I want. That's the St. Nick that everyone should want. And that's the God I want. The God who pays people's ransoms from slavery no matter the cost. The God who empties out His storehouses for His people. And is so committed to paying their ransom that He sends His Son and is willing to put Him on a cross to buy our freedom. Because we need His gifts, most of all the gift of Jesus. That's what we remember on Christmas.
Friday, December 2, 2011
An Advent Post
In light of the holiday season, I thought I would make a holiday post or two. I found this interesting and funny video depicting the Christmas Story. Now don't get me wrong, dressing kids up as the characters of the biblical story is weird to me, but this one had cool accents and a creative touch.
In recent years, I've begun to observe the season of Advent. I like Advent for two reasons. First, Advent is the season of a world pregnant with hope, and that hope we call Christ will soon arrive. Second of all, Advent focuses not on gift giving, but God's giving of His greatest gift, Jesus.
Something I have been doing in the past few years is not asking for hardly any presents, but instead asking that people give money to charities I like, this year it will be to a couple of different places like my beloved Impact. It's a part of an effort to restore the meaning back into Christmas by a group called the Advent Conspiracy. They seek to focus more on the celebrating the coming of Christ into the world with family and friends, and finding the joy in giving rather than receiving. Maybe you'd like to join in on the conspiracy. Here's their promo video for the year.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
In recent years, I've begun to observe the season of Advent. I like Advent for two reasons. First, Advent is the season of a world pregnant with hope, and that hope we call Christ will soon arrive. Second of all, Advent focuses not on gift giving, but God's giving of His greatest gift, Jesus.
Something I have been doing in the past few years is not asking for hardly any presents, but instead asking that people give money to charities I like, this year it will be to a couple of different places like my beloved Impact. It's a part of an effort to restore the meaning back into Christmas by a group called the Advent Conspiracy. They seek to focus more on the celebrating the coming of Christ into the world with family and friends, and finding the joy in giving rather than receiving. Maybe you'd like to join in on the conspiracy. Here's their promo video for the year.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
My First Oath
A couple weeks ago, I made my way to the Mickey Leland Federal Building here in Houston to get my first passport. As some of you may know my girlfriend Michael is in Honduras for the next two years as a part of the Helpers in Missions program. There she is working with a homeless ministry called Breaking Chains, and Shine Honduras which seeks to provide education for underprivileged kids. I am going to be able to go visit her around Christmas, thanks to a wonderful couple who bought me a ticket.
So I show up to present my application and birth certificate at Mickey's building (I really like the name Mickey, but could not tell you a single fact about Mickey Leland). Everything is going well, there's no line, I turn my phone, then forget my birth certificate in my car. I go retrieve it, then begin the process again. After getting every piece of identification photocopied, the lady behind the counter asked me to put my left hand on the application, and to raise my right hand. I'm sure she got a kick out of the look of confusion on my face as she told me to repeat after her.
So I, John Carson, swore that I completed the application to the best of my knowledge and that the picture was a good likeness of me. There was a brief moment where I thought "They're going to figure out I've been in Texas longer than I should have without a Texas Drivers License and revoked this thing." Luckily this didn't happen and I now have my passport.
All of this got me thinking about oaths in the Bible, specifically God's oath with Abraham. In Genesis 24, Abraham is speaking about how God swore on oath that He would give Abraham's offspring land and make them into a great nation. All through the Bible this oath is referenced, and seems to carry a lot of meaning. One of the things that came along with an oath was a seal, which acted as a symbol of that promise. For a weird example of this, read Genesis 38.
When I think about seals it makes me think about one of my favorite songs "Come Thou Fount." We sang it at Impact Sunday and it was amazing. The song ends with these words "Here's my heart, Lord, Take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." When I sing these words it's like I'm making my oath with God and saying I'm His. Also, here's my heart as a symbol of that oath. For me, when I hear the whole congregation singing this song, it's like hearing a bride say to her husband, "I'm yours."
Grace & Peace,
John
When I think about seals it makes me think about one of my favorite songs "Come Thou Fount." We sang it at Impact Sunday and it was amazing. The song ends with these words "Here's my heart, Lord, Take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." When I sing these words it's like I'm making my oath with God and saying I'm His. Also, here's my heart as a symbol of that oath. For me, when I hear the whole congregation singing this song, it's like hearing a bride say to her husband, "I'm yours."
Grace & Peace,
John
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
3 Days with a Labyrinth
Lately, I find myself having a lot more time without my girlfriend here in Houston, which gives me time to think about interesting things to do with my time. While most people where off to Halloween parties on Saturday night; I was off to draw a labyrinth in Impact's back parking lot, which can be seen below. Now I'm sure the few people that saw me doing this thought I was insane, and drawing something akin to a crop circle or something of the occult.
Many of you may be wondering what exactly a labyrinth is. It is an old term used for mazes and places the Greeks and other cultures used in their mythology. Labyrinth slowly became the term used for any sort of maze or meditation circle. Eventually, it was hijacked by the Christians as a replacement for a pilgrimage. It began to appear on cathedral floors around 1000 AD for people to use as a tool for prayer. There has been a revival of sorts for labyrinths lately, they've been popping up at churches and chapels all over the country.
Chartres Cathedral, France
I was building my labyrinth for an experiment for my Spiritual Formations class, and because I thought it would be something cool my kids could try. A labyrinth walk is a time where the person walking it can think about all the things they need to give up in order to abide with God more fully. Once in the center of the labyrinth the person prays and mediates what is on their heart, and meets with Christ in the center. Now while the person sits, they wait until a word is put on their heart. All the way out of the labyrinth, they meditate on that word and how they can put that into practice into their lives.
I like labyrinths. They make me slow down and contemplate what I need to give up to be with Christ, and forces me to make sure my heart is right and I'm ready before I step the middle of the circle and meet God. They also wind and twist all the way to the center, which I think is a nice metaphor for life. I don't have to think about all the twists and turns that God has me on, I just have to keep stepping towards Him.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that a few of the middle school kids really enjoyed doing it in our class Sunday morning. Our youth team also walked the labyrinth on Monday as per my prayer project for class. It was new to many of them and they felt soothed after the chance to have an intentional time of prayer and meditation. Last night, I took my High School students on a labyrinth walk as a chance to remind us that we have chased desires that will not fulfill us, and that we need to give up these desires and be fulfilled by Christ.
Afterwards many of them spoke of how it gave them the chance to think deeper about their lives and their relationship with God. Some even cried afterwards, which really surprised me. Many people would say that you can't do quiet, contemplative things with inner-city kids. I would agree a lot of the time. Lots of our kids are ADHD, immature, neglected and needing so much attention, that lots of times it's hard to get them quiet during any activity. But it was different with the labyrinth. They stopped. They thought. They walked. They followed the path. And they met with Christ and prayed.
I think there is something fascinating about ancient practices. Many times I think a lot of people would find them boring. On the surface, they really can be boring, but they are deep with rich spiritual meaning. Lectio Divina or Divine Reading, the Book of Common Prayer, and now Labyrinths are all things I would have never guessed my kids would love. My kids strive for God, they do experience Him in these ancient practices. I think I will be incorporating them into our worship times and classes more. Maybe you faithful reader can seek out some of these practices and experience God in a deeper way.
Grace & Peace,
John
Many of you may be wondering what exactly a labyrinth is. It is an old term used for mazes and places the Greeks and other cultures used in their mythology. Labyrinth slowly became the term used for any sort of maze or meditation circle. Eventually, it was hijacked by the Christians as a replacement for a pilgrimage. It began to appear on cathedral floors around 1000 AD for people to use as a tool for prayer. There has been a revival of sorts for labyrinths lately, they've been popping up at churches and chapels all over the country.
Chartres Cathedral, France
I was building my labyrinth for an experiment for my Spiritual Formations class, and because I thought it would be something cool my kids could try. A labyrinth walk is a time where the person walking it can think about all the things they need to give up in order to abide with God more fully. Once in the center of the labyrinth the person prays and mediates what is on their heart, and meets with Christ in the center. Now while the person sits, they wait until a word is put on their heart. All the way out of the labyrinth, they meditate on that word and how they can put that into practice into their lives.
I like labyrinths. They make me slow down and contemplate what I need to give up to be with Christ, and forces me to make sure my heart is right and I'm ready before I step the middle of the circle and meet God. They also wind and twist all the way to the center, which I think is a nice metaphor for life. I don't have to think about all the twists and turns that God has me on, I just have to keep stepping towards Him.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that a few of the middle school kids really enjoyed doing it in our class Sunday morning. Our youth team also walked the labyrinth on Monday as per my prayer project for class. It was new to many of them and they felt soothed after the chance to have an intentional time of prayer and meditation. Last night, I took my High School students on a labyrinth walk as a chance to remind us that we have chased desires that will not fulfill us, and that we need to give up these desires and be fulfilled by Christ.
Afterwards many of them spoke of how it gave them the chance to think deeper about their lives and their relationship with God. Some even cried afterwards, which really surprised me. Many people would say that you can't do quiet, contemplative things with inner-city kids. I would agree a lot of the time. Lots of our kids are ADHD, immature, neglected and needing so much attention, that lots of times it's hard to get them quiet during any activity. But it was different with the labyrinth. They stopped. They thought. They walked. They followed the path. And they met with Christ and prayed.
I think there is something fascinating about ancient practices. Many times I think a lot of people would find them boring. On the surface, they really can be boring, but they are deep with rich spiritual meaning. Lectio Divina or Divine Reading, the Book of Common Prayer, and now Labyrinths are all things I would have never guessed my kids would love. My kids strive for God, they do experience Him in these ancient practices. I think I will be incorporating them into our worship times and classes more. Maybe you faithful reader can seek out some of these practices and experience God in a deeper way.
Grace & Peace,
John
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